


Greatest Disappointment You Know

by Fangirlshrewt97



Category: One Day at a Time (TV 2017)
Genre: Abandonment, Angst, Gen, Homophobic Thoughts, Hurt/Comfort, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Self Confidence Issues, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Hatred, Whump, Whumptober 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2019-10-06
Packaged: 2020-11-26 04:04:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20923868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fangirlshrewt97/pseuds/Fangirlshrewt97
Summary: When Penelope hears her daughter crying at night and goes to comfort her, she is shocked to find just how much Victor abandoning her on her quinceañera hurt Elena.Timeline - Between Season 1 finale and Season 2 premiereWhumptober Prompt: Abandoned





	Greatest Disappointment You Know

**Author's Note:**

> Hi readers,
> 
> So this fic is a little different than what I usually write, but spoilers since I don't want to accidentally trigger anyone. Basically Elena is crying because she thinks if she had pretended to be straight then her father wouldn't have abandoned her. I tried to write things as close to what I thought everyone should hear from a parent who is really caring for them, but don't want to bring up any bad memories.  
The title is from "Breathe" from the "In the Heights" soundtrack  
None of these characters are mine, I'm just borrowing them for a bit.  
All errors are my own, this story is not beta-read.  
If you like it, please let me know thorough kudos and/or comments!
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Fangirlshrewt97

Penelope was heading to bed hen she heard a faint sound coming from he daughter’s room. Concerned, she walked to the door and put her head against it, trying to hear better. The noise was still faint, but was that… was Elena crying?

Worry increasing, Penelope knocked softly on the door, not wanting to startle her daughter. “Elena, sweetie, are you ok?”

Abruptly, the noise choked off, and Penelope heard some scuffling on the other side of the door before Elena replied “Yeah mom, I’m fine.”

Penelope wasn’t naive enough to believe her daughter. “Can I come in real quick?”

“No! I’m fine really, just go to bed!” Elena said, voice tinged with the slightest hint of panic. The worry in Penelope’s stomach just grew larger, what could have her daughter feeling so scared.

“Please Elena, open the door for me?” she asked, keeping her voice low.

“Mom….”

“I just want to kiss you goodnight. Please?”

Penelope stepped back when she heard some more scuffling and the deadbolt unlocking. She gasped when the door opened to show her daughter hunched over, wiping her nose on one sleeve of her sweater. Approaching her as she would a scared animal, Penelope gently placed her hand on Elena’s cheek, lifting her face up. “Ay, nena…”

Elena’s face was splotchy and red, eyelids puffy with tear-marks stark on her face even in the dim hallway light. Elena bit her lip as fresh tears welled up in her eyes, and she sniffled before tucking herself tightly into her mother’s arms. Penelope automatically wound her free hand over her waist, holding her daughter close as she moved the other hand from Elena’s cheek to the back of her head.

Neither knew how long they stood in the doorway before Penelope gently nudged Elena to move backwards until they were both sitting on her bed. Penelope grabbed tissues from the box on Elena’s desk, wiping the tears from her daughter’s face, her own showing her concern freely. Elena took one tissue and blew her nose, trying to catch her breath and blinking rapidly to make the tears stop. Penelope only pulled away when Elena seemed to get things under control again.

“Elena, what happened?” Penelope asked, anxiety barely hidden.

“I’m sorry mami.” Elena sobbed, too lost in her head, anxiety clogging her throat.

“What are you sorry for? There’s nothing to be sorry for! Why are you crying?”

“I’m-I-I’m just…” Elena started before crying again. Penelope pulled her against herself, bringing them both to lean against Elena’s bed’s headboard.

“Breathe Elena.”

“I’m sorry I disappointed you.” Elena whispered, voice so low Penelope barely caught the words. But the words sent a shock of fear and anger through her as she tightened her grip on Elena.

“Disappointed? What are you talking about Elena? You have done nothing like that!”

“I did though…” Elena said, voice so full of conviction and sorrow.

“Really what is that?”

“I’m just…I wish I was straight mami, I really do. I tried pretending so much but I couldn’t do it, and I’m so sorry.” Elena said before dissolving into tears again. Penelope meanwhile was shell-shocked. Those were not words she ever thought she would hear from her daughter. And certainly not ones she thought were the slightest bit true. What on earth had made Elena think it was?

“Elena, hija, look at me, please.” Penelope pleaded, needing her daughter to hear her next words carefully. When Elena sat up slightly, Penelope curved her hands over her daughter’s cheeks, bringing her close to kiss her forehead, then her cheeks, before resting her forehead against Elena’s. “You are the most incredible daughter I could ever ask for Elena. You are so smart, so beautiful, so stubborn, but your heart is always in the right place. You are so angry, but the world is unfair and you should be angry. You do what is right and you stand by your principles, god Elena, I don’t know what I did to deserve you but I promise you, never, not for even a second, have I ever thought you should be anything but true to yourself. Because yes, sometimes you are so stubborn you don’t hear what I’m telling you. Or so focused on the big things you miss the little things. But you never go wrong Elena, not when it matters. And you being gay, that isn’t a bad thing querida. Ay nena, eres tan perfecta, I don’t care if you like girls or guys, or anyone else. What I care is that whoever you choose to give your heart to realizes what a gift they have been given, and appreciate it. Because you are so amazing, and you inspire me to be better every single day.” By the end of her mini-speech, both mother and daughter were crying, clinging to each other.

“You’re not disappointed in me?”

“Not for a second.”

“...Ok.”

“Do you believe me?” Penelope asked, stroking her daughter’s hair. Elena shrugged.

“Elena, why would you think I would be disappointed in you? What even brought this on in the first place?”

“It’s stupid.”

“Not if it is making you cry so much.” Penelope said, resting her cheek on top of Elena’s head.

Elena continued to trace figures into her jacket before sniffling and pulling away from the embrace to get up and pick something from under her pillow. Only the desk lamp was on, but when Elena gave the paper to Penelope, it was enough to show it was actually a photo. Penelope nearly started to cry again when she realized it was a photo from Elena’s eight birthday party, back before the divorce when they had all been together, even if not entirely happy. Her mother was holding baby Alex, while her father had his arm around her waist. Penelope was not in the picture, having been the one taking the photograph. And center stage, was Victor holding Elena close in front of the birthday cake.

“Elena…”

“He abandoned me mami. He just left me there during the quinceañera, and I don’t think he will ever accept me. If I had been straight he wouldn’t have left me. Now he hates me.” God, Victor had broken her heart so many times in so many ways, and she had been so angry but Penelope had never felt this much rage towards the man as she did now. How dare he break their little girl’s heart like this? How was Penelope supposed to protect her from the world when she couldn’t even protect her from her dad.

Tugging Elena back to her chest, Penelope just held her daughter tight, unsure of how to respond to her, but also not willing to tell her a lie that everything would work out.

“Elena, I want to tell you that you just need to give him some time, that he will come around, but you are too smart for me to insult you like that. What I can say is that I really hope your papi realizes his mistake and comes and apologizes. But you need to know Elena, you have done nothing wrong. If you had pretended to be straight to keep us happy, you would have died a little everyday from the shame and the lies. I am your mother Elena, and thinking of you doing that to make me happy makes me so sick to my stomach. You deserve the world. And you deserve to love who you want, and be loved by someone who realizes what a treasure you are. Because you are a treasure. You are so priceless to me, and it breaks my heart that I can’t protect you from the world, that the world is so ugly, and so cruel. But know that I will always, always love you. And so will your brother and grandmother.”

Elena sniffled quietly before snuggling closer, “I love you.”

Penelope chuckled softly, bringing a hand up to card her fingers through her daughter’s hair. “I love you so much Elena, I don’t have the words to tell you how much.”

The two stayed like that for a long time, both lost in their own thoughts. When Penelope started feeling Elena grow looser with sleep, she carefully extracted herself from her daughter to tuck her to bed. She had just finished and turned to leave when Elena suddenly grabbed her hand.

“Elena?”

“Can you please with me tonight?” came the soft request from her daughter, voice still so scared as if she thought her mother would push her away.

Swallowing her heartbreak, Penelope smiled and nodded slightly. “Move over then.”

Removing her own sweater and putting it on Elena’s chair, Penelope slid into her daughter’s bed and gathered her close. She started humming an old Cuban lullaby she used to sing Elena as a child, rubbing her back gently. Within moments, Elena’s breaths lulled to the even breaths indicating her daughter was finally asleep.

It was a long time before Penelope succumbed to sleep, her thoughts racing as she felt a chain being pulled around her heart, doing it’s best to squeeze the life out of her. All she wanted was for her children to be happy. Why couldn’t the world give them that much? Why couldn’t Victor?

Her last thought before she drifted off echoed through her brain though. Come what may, she would be damned before she let the world break her children.

**Author's Note:**

> If you guys want to chat, find me at fangirlshrewt97.tumblr.com


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